Bridging the Gap, Continued

$5,594
of $12,000 goal

First, all praise and thanks to Allah for my wife's continued healing from her medical emergency of last June.

The funds that were donated up to now have been used to help pay the bills and are spent. Again, may Allah reward and guide all those who have donated.

Since October, I have been making sincere effort to find part time work at or close to home, to be able to be near my wife, who is still recovering and is thankfully doing very well. MashaAllah, look at what He is doing!

What I have discovered is the following:

I took a part-time job at a grocery store produce department and lasted three days. I loved working with the produce, especially the organics, but could not stand on my feet on a concrete floor five hours straight, no matter what shoes or cushions in the shoes I wore. I have an old lower back injury from being rear ended in 1989 that has left me with "low back bilateral leg and foot pain and numbness and paresthesias" according to my doctor.

Then I became an independent contractor-courier to take blood and blood products from donation centers to hospitals as far away as Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, MD. What I learned about myself was that my eyes are not the same as they once were. I do not feel entirely confident anymore about driving in an unknown huge city at rush hour at night and follow my GPS all at the same time. In familiar surroundings I am fine 24/7, but in a strange and very densely populated place, especially at rush hour, especially at dark, my inner survival instincts trigger and tell me this is not for me anymore. So I need to find other courier work that happens in the daytime, and does not leave me in a busy strange place when the sun goes down.

On top of that, the last six deliveries in the works for December 2017, most of which were doable and not all the way to Bethesda, were cancelled in early part of the month, creating a $1000 shortfall for this month alone. A rude awakening to the downside of courier work.

This is all taking time. And the bills add up.

Therefore, I am asking still, for any help anyone can find in their heart to give, to help us get through, to bridge this gap that a medical emergency tends to create in the life of an individual or family.

Here is an interesting anecdote that reinforces that saying "No good deed goes unpunished". I am sharing this just to let you know I am really trying here, not just relying on handouts. I would be thrilled to be self-sufficient again, no doubt. But until then, please help me if you can. No amount is too small or too large. And a little here and there can potentially fill the bucket. Now here is the anecdote:

I made a little money in October-November with the three days at the grocery store and some courier deliveries. When I reported the income to my local help lines, they interpreted it to be wages that would repeat monthly, even though I told them I was self-employed and these were stand alone gigs I was paid for. Although my caseworker was very nice and tried to be helpful, his hands were tied by a system that recognizes salaried and hourly employees, but does not have a place for self-employed people whose business just slows down. So as a result of my one month of earning, I lost my food stamps and also now must pay my Plan B Medicare, which means $104/month out of my Social Security. Makes no sense, but I have no recourse other than to seek other work asap and ask here for some help.

This is not the easiest thing to do, to be so open about my personal situation. But times are different now, and sites like Go Fund Me encourage human beings to reach out to each other and help as able, others who need it.

Thank you for reading and for your consideration. And if you choose to donate, thank you for that. What goes around does come around. Peace.

Hadith 36: Allah Helps Those Who Help Others

On the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who said, ” Whoever relieves a believer’s distress of the distressful aspects of this world, Allah will rescue him from a difficulty of the difficulties of the Hereafter. Whoever alleviates [the situation of] one in dire straits who cannot repay his debt, Allah will alleviate his lot in both this world and in the Hereafter. Whoever conceals [the faults of] a Muslim, Allah will conceal [his faults] in this life and the Hereafter. Allah is helping the servant as long as the servant is helping his brother. Whoever follows a path in order to seek knowledge thereby, Allah will make easy doe him, due to it, a path to Paradise. No people gather together in a house of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descended upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them and Allah makes mention of them to those in His presence. Whoever is slowed by his deeds will not be hastened forward by his lineage.” (Recorded in Muslim)

“Allah is helping the servant as long as the servant is helping his brother.”

First, all praise and thanks to Allah for my wife's continued healing from her medical emergency of last June.

The funds that were donated up to now have been used to help pay the bills and is spent. Again, may Allah reward and guide all those who have donated.

Since October, I have been making sincere effort to find part time work at or close to home, to be able to be near my wife, who is still recovering and is thankfully doing very well. MashaAllah, look at what He is doing!

What I have discovered is the following:

I took a part-time job at a grocery store produce department and lasted three days. I loved working with the produce, especially the organics, but could not stand on my feet on a concrete floor five hours straight, no matter what shoes or cushions in the shoes I wore. I have an old lower back injury from being rear ended in 1989 that has left me with "low back bilateral leg and foot pain and numbness and paresthesias" according to my doctor.

Then I became an independent contractor-courier to take blood and blood products from donation centers to hospitals as far away as Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, MD. What I learned about myself was that my eyes are not the same as they once were. I do not feel entirely confident anymore about driving in an unknown huge city at rush hour at night and follow my GPS all at the same time. In familiar surroundings I am fine 24/7, but in a strange and very densely populated place, especially at rush hour, especially at dark, my inner survival instincts trigger and tell me this is not for me anymore. So I need to find other courier work that happens in the daytime, and does not leave me in a busy strange place when the sun goes down.

On top of that, the last six deliveries in the works for December 2017, most of which were doable and not all the way to Bethesda, were cancelled in early part of the month, creating a $1000 shortfall for this month alone. A rude awakening to the downside of courier work.

This is all taking time. And the bills add up.

Therefore, I am asking still, for any help anyone can find in their heart to give, to help us get through, to bridge this gap that a medical emergency tends to create in the life of an individual or family.

Here is an interesting anecdote that reinforces that saying "No good deed goes unpunished". I am sharing this just to let you know I am really trying here, not just relying on handouts. I would be thrilled to be self-sufficient again, no doubt. But until then, please help me if you can. No amount is too small or too large. And a little here and there can potentially fill the bucket. Now here is the anecdote:

I made a little money in October-November with the three days at the grocery store and some courier deliveries. When I reported the income to my local help lines, they interpreted it to be wages that would repeat monthly, even though I told them I was self-employed and these were stand alone gigs I was paid for. Although my caseworker was very nice and tried to be helpful, his hands were tied by a system that recognizes salaried and hourly employees, but does not have a place for self-employed people whose business just slows down. So as a result of my one month of earning, I lost my food stamps and also now must pay my Plan B Medicare, which means $104/month out of my Social Security. Makes no sense, but I have no recourse other than to seek other work asap and ask here for some help.

This is not the easiest thing to do, to be so open about my personal situation. But times are different now, and sites like Go Fund Me encourage human beings to reach out to each other and help as able, others who need it.

Thank you for reading and for your consideration. And if you choose to donate, thank you for that. What goes around does come around. Peace.

First, all praise and thanks to Allah for my wife's continued healing from her medical emergency of last June.

The funds that were donated up to now have been used to help pay the bills and is spent. Again, may Allah reward and guide all those who have donated.

Since October, I have been making sincere effort to find part time work at or close to home, to be able to be near my wife, who is still recovering and is thankfully doing very well. MashaAllah, look at what He is doing!

What I have discovered is the following:

I took a part-time job at a grocery store produce department and lasted three days. I loved working with the produce, especially the organics, but could not stand on my feet on a concrete floor five hours straight, no matter what shoes or cushions in the shoes I wore. I have an old lower back injury from being rear ended in 1989 that has left me with "low back bilateral leg and foot pain and numbness and paresthesias" according to my doctor.

Then I became an independent contractor-courier to take blood and blood products from donation centers to hospitals as far away as Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, MD. What I learned about myself was that my eyes are not the same as they once were. I do not feel entirely confident anymore about driving in an unknown huge city at rush hour at night and follow my GPS all at the same time. In familiar surroundings I am fine 24/7, but in a strange and very densely populated place, especially at rush hour, especially at dark, my inner survival instincts trigger and tell me this is not for me anymore. So I need to find other courier work that happens in the daytime, and does not leave me in a busy strange place when the sun goes down.

This is all taking time. And the bills add up.

Therefore, I am asking still, for any help anyone can find in their heart to give, to help us get through, to bridge this gap that a medical emergency tends to create in the life of an individual or family.

Here is an interesting anecdote that reinforces that saying "No good deed goes unpunished". I am sharing this just to let you know I am really trying here, not just relying on handouts. I would be thrilled to be self-sufficient again, no doubt. But until then, please help me if you can. No amount is too small or too large. And a little here and there can potentially fill the bucket. Now here is the anecdote:

I made a little money in October-November with the three days at the grocery store and some courier deliveries. When I reported the income to my local help lines, they interpreted it to be wages that would repeat monthly, even though I told them I was self-employed and these were stand alone gigs I was paid for. Although my caseworker was very nice and tried to be helpful, his hands were tied by a system that recognizes salaried and hourly employees, but does not have a place for self-employed people whose business just slows down. So as a result of my one month of earning, I lost my food stamps and also now must pay my Plan B Medicare, which means $104/month out of my Social Security. Makes no sense, but I have no recourse other than to seek other work asap and ask here for some help.

This is not the easiest thing to do, to be so open about my personal situation. But times are different now, and sites like Go Fund Me encourage human beings to reach out to each other and help as able, others who need it.

Thank you for reading and for your consideration. And if you choose to donate, thank you for that. What goes around does come around. Peace.

FIRST OF ALL, A BIG 'THANKS AGAIN!' TO ALL THE FOLKS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO HELP US OUT LAST SUMMER WHEN WE HAD A MEDICAL EMERGENCY IN OUR FAMILY. THE FUNDS HELPED US GET THROUGH THE TWO AND A HALF TOUGHEST MONTHS.

SIX MONTHS LATER....

Thanks to Allah, my wife is doing so much better after her mild stroke she had last June. But even though she is doing great, I still feel the definite need to be at home or very close to home to do the part time work that is necessary for me to make ends meet with my Social Security.

I tried to work in a local supermarket. I loved working with the fresh produce, especially the organically grown. The people there were great. The store is employee owned, which helped to set a very positive atmosphere. But my legs and feet could not endure standing for five hours at a time on the concrete floor, no matter what kind of shoes or insoles I tried. After three days of my legs and feet feeling on fire from the knees down after a five hour standing shift, I had to resign.

I do courier work part time now, transporting blood and blood products from donation centers to hospitals. One of the drawbacks of this contract courier work that I have just had a big taste of this week is that orders placed can also be cancelled before the scheduled pickup and delivery. In this past week, I have had three scheduled jobs be cancelled. This devastates my attempt at budgeting, planning and paying bills and debts, no doubt.

SO HERE I AM AGAIN....

....asking for help.

This is not easy for me to do, to ask for help. I know it is better to give than to receive, that the hand that gives is better than the one that accepts. I would much rather be self-sufficient. For whatever reason, I am in this position of needing help. I have made my effort and I have prayed for guidance. Some of that guidance led me to ask here again, of anyone who wants to help, to donate to our family, to help- us through this transition back to self-sufficiency. Meanwhile, I am seeking more contacts in the courier world to increase my probability of having enough work to make ends meet. The thing about being a courier is that if my wife needed me, she could call me and I could hand off my package to another courier and get home. Since I have not been able to find credible part time work to do at or near home, this has been the next best thing, where I can control my time and hours and be home at will as necessary.

That is the story up to now. So if you feel the inclination to help me out here, thank you. What goes around does come around, in ways that are most amazing and wonderful. That has been my experience when I was on the giving side of this equation. Now I am on the receiving side. I would much rather be on the giving side, but Allah knows best. There is something to be learned from both sides of this coin.

Thanks to Allah, Mamoona is getter better every day. She is beginning to walk around the house without a cane, is able to walk up and down the stairs without my supervision, and we are done with the home care and moving towards outpatient physical and outpatient therapy in the next week or two.

You donations, by the Grace of Allah, made it possible for me to be with my wife in the hospital for the month she was there, and covered us for the month following plus a little, while I have been spending 100% of my time with Mamoona. June and July bills, plus part of August, were/will be, God willing, paid with gofundme donations. We are very grateful. Now it is time for me to get busy and get back into my work, may Allah make it easy.

On behalf of Mamoona and myself, we want to thank you for your support during this trying time.
We are closing down the donation side of this site but will keep you informed if you are interested, if you message me on Facebook or Messenger.